Chapter 373: Joint Rescue
Su Shan double-checked the lots in their hands once more.
There were only three lots left that could withstand the "calamities."
The ones in Qin Dingdong's hand—"Water Leaves No Trace," in Lin Qin's hand—"Warm Spring Blossom Day," and in Zhang Chenze's hand—"Torrential Rain and Pounding Storm."
By inferring the problems from the answers, they could roughly deduce the upcoming "calamities."
Only a few natural disasters had yet to appear. So "Water Leaves No Trace" naturally corresponded to "flooding."
As for "Warm Spring Blossom Day," it was more open to interpretation. On the surface, it resembled "Bright Sun Caresses the Earth," except "Bright Sun Caresses the Earth" sounded much more scorching.
The "calamity" it could counter should also be very similar to a "cold snap."
Following that logic, it could only be low-temperature disasters like "blizzards" or "snow disasters."
By that reasoning... "Torrential Rain and Pounding Storm" in Zhang Chenze's hand should correspond to "drought."
Assuming that in the next three rounds, the calamities they would face were "flooding," "snow disaster," and "drought," then the most dangerous one seemed to be "flooding."
Its effect should be similar to "sandstorm"—it would fill a room in a certain "season" with water. This was a process that required accumulation, so the Earth Dog might use it first.
Next would be the "snow disaster" corresponding to "Warm Spring Blossom Day." It combined both suffocation and cold, but unlike drowning, being buried in snow wasn't necessarily fatal to humans.
The safest should be "drought." Since the attributes of drought were sustained water shortage and high temperatures, killing someone would take much longer. With at most three rounds left, killing someone with "drought" was quite difficult.
Three "wish lots" were held by three different people—this was the best possible scenario. Plus, with the lot "All Fields Are Cultivated" in her own hand ready to be played at any time, the "Four Seasons" camp could make a move every single round.
At this moment, the "Four Seasons" seemed to have formed a net of encirclement, trapping the "Nian Beast" tightly in the middle.
"The first person's 'wish' is complete. Next, the second person will 'draw lots.'"
Seeing that the Earth Dog had no intention of using a "calamity lot," Zhang Chenze followed Su Shan's example and pressed down the "neutral lot" as soon as it floated up.
"The second person's 'wish' is complete. Next, the third person will 'draw lots.'"
Su Shan slowly furrowed her brows. "Still not using it?"
She had roughly guessed the Earth Dog's tactic. This round would probably be the same as the last—the Earth Dog would use two "calamities" at the end of one round and the beginning of another.
Sure enough, Lin Qin's round passed directly as well. She also pressed down the floating "neutral lot," treating it as a "wish."
The sixth round was nearing its end, reaching Qin Dingdong's phase.
By now, Su Shan was ready. She had a feeling that this time, the "calamity" would fall on her.
"Everyone..." the Earth Dog finally spoke at this moment. "This round's 'calamity' is called 'Flooding.'"
To Su Shan's surprise, the Earth Dog still didn't use the "calamity" on her. Instead, he targeted Qin Dingdong again.
"Damn it, you dead dog, are you ever going to stop?!" Qin Dingdong shouted. The intense movement made her cough again. While coughing, she yelled, "How many times?! Tell me how many times?! After 'Sandstorm' and 'Toxic Miasma,' now 'Flooding'?! Do I owe you money? Just drop a rain of knives on me already! I don't want to live anymore!"
Everyone could see Qin Dingdong in the glass room pointing at the Earth Dog and cursing up a storm. They couldn't hear what she was saying, but from her lip movements and expression, it was clearly nothing good.
The next second, water began to accumulate in Qin Dingdong's room.
This time, the flooding was different from previous "calamities." The water didn't fall from above but gushed in from a pipe at the bottom. Judging by the gushing speed, it would only take a few minutes to fill the room.
Qin Dingdong looked at her own "Water Leaves No Trace." Unfortunately, it had a left-pointing arrow drawn on it again.
Even she had thought that this time Su Shan would be the unlucky one, so she had kept this left-arrow "lot" in her hand. But when bad luck strikes, there's no helping it.
"I must have been infected by that bastard Chen Junnan..." Qin Dingdong picked up her "Water Leaves No Trace" and closed her eyes.
To survive, she could only do the same trick again.
"What a pity... This 'lot'... is also fake..."
After a moment, Qin Dingdong frowned.
She realized her "subconscious" was out of control. Although she wanted very much to believe this lot was fake, she couldn't.
How could it possibly be fake?!
Just a few seconds ago, she was about to use this lot to save Su Shan. And now, a few seconds later, she was supposed to say it was fake.
Even with "Echo," she couldn't activate it under such absurd circumstances.
"Dead dog... Can you really not see the lots in our hands?" Qin Dingdong felt that the Earth Dog was operating on a higher level to plan this operation.
He deliberately left Su Shan as an opening. Was it to shake her conviction?
If he could really do that, then this person was far too terrifying.
"Forget it... It's just 'water,'" Qin Dingdong said. "It'll take a few minutes to fill the room. I can hold my breath for a minute or so... There are only two rounds left. It's worth a gamble."
Qin Dingdong decisively gifted her "Water Leaves No Trace" to Su Shan. The next strategy would be up to her.
Before Su Shan could "draw lots," the Earth Dog's voice rang out again: "The seventh round begins. I will act first."
The Earth Dog's action was just as Su Shan had predicted. He was going to maximize the "calamity." This time, it should definitely be her turn.
After all, if she got the "calamity" during her own phase, it would take at least until the next person to save her. If luck was worse, the "rescue operation" could take an entire round.
But the situation surprised everyone again.
The Earth Dog still didn't target Su Shan. Instead, he aimed this round's "calamity" at Qin Dingdong once more.
"This 'calamity' is called—'Hail.'"
"Huh?!" Qin Dingdong's eyes went wide.
The Earth Dog had adopted the most direct strategy. He no longer cared about the other seasons. Now he was going all out to kill "Winter."
Since there were no more extra "firecrackers" on the field, as long as he could kill "Winter," the Earth Dog would be firmly in an unbeatable position.
A few seconds later, with a loud mechanical sound above Qin Dingdong's head, countless chunks of ice began to fall with a "crackling" noise.
The ice chunks struck Qin Dingdong's body before falling into the water.
"So you have combo moves too?!" Qin Dingdong shielded her head with both hands, clearly furious. "You have all these ideas, and you use them all on me?!"
Su Shan knew that the lot in her hand couldn't save Qin Dingdong. She quickly gifted "Water Leaves No Trace" to Zhang Chenze.
Zhang Chenze had been waiting by the table. As soon as the "lot" floated up, she picked it up and placed it into the gifting slot.
Now it was Lin Qin's turn to decide.
She had two "lots" in her hand: "Warm Spring Blossom Day" and "Water Leaves No Trace."
Qin Dingdong's room had two "calamities," but Lin Qin could only use one "lot."